06 August 2012

EBONY: "For Colored Boys"

For Colored Boys collects the writings of more than three dozen Black gay and transgender voices who are media personalities, scholars, activists and other thought leaders.

The book was launched last summer in the wake of numerous "young Black men literally committing suicide in the silence of their own communities," Keith Boykin told EBONY. “The anthology was inspired by the tragic stories of Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover, Jaheem Herrera, Raymond Chase and Joseph Jefferson.”

Those names are probably not familiar to most readers. The first two were 11-year-old boys who took their own lives after relentless anti-gay bullying in 2009. The latter two were openly gay college students who committed suicide in late 2010. Chase and Jefferson’s deaths happened around the same time as the tragic case of Tyler Clementi, the 18-year-old gay college student who jumped to his death in September 2010. Clementi’s case received international attention and sparked the "It Gets Better" project.

"The implication was that the lives of Black men were not worthy of news coverage," said Boykin, a former aide to President Clinton. "Not to take anything away from Tyler but our society often ignores the pain and suffering experienced by Black men."

For Colored Boys will be available online on August 8 and in bookstores on August 13.